Parley P. Pratt

Parley Parker Pratt Sr. (12 April 1807-13 May 1857) was an Apostle of the LDS Church from 21 February 1835 to 13 May 1857.

Biography
Parley Parker Pratt Sr. was born in Burlington, New York in 1807, and Pratt and his wife migrated to Cleveland, Ohio after their 1827 marriage. Pratt became a member of the Reformed Baptist Society, and he decided to become a minister, selling his property. On 1 September 1830, he was baptized a Mormon, and he assisted in converting Sidney Rigdon to Mormonism as well. In early 1833, Pratt served as a missionary in Illinois, and he became a Mormon branch president in Jackson County, Missouri and a leader of the Mormon militia. In 1835, Pratt became an Apostle of the LDS Church, and he became a preacher in New York City, New England, and Canada. Pratt would later become a part of the successful mission to the British Isles from 1839 to 1841, and he explored and surveyed Parley's Canyon in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1857, Pratt was murdered by the estranged husband of his twelfth wife (he had 30 children). Pratt was the great-great-grandfather of Mitt Romney and the great-great-great grandfather of Jon Huntsman Jr., both of whom would become prominent Republican Party politicians from Utah.